Shoe heel structure

Abstract

To provide a heel structure for a shoe which is easy to put on and provides a stable wearing feeling. [Solution] The heel structure of the shoe of the present invention is composed of wing portions 2 which are symmetrical on the inside and outside of the foot, and a shoehorn portion 3 which is an extension of the upper end of the wing portion 2 along the axis P of symmetry. The heel structure has high hardness portions 4 made of a resin with a high hardness around the central periphery in the inward / outward direction and the central periphery in the upward / downward direction of the axis P, and a soft hardness portion 5 made of a resin with a lower hardness than the high hardness portion 4 over the entire area except for the wing portions 2 and the high hardness portion 4 of the axis P. [Effects] The shoes have a structure that allows the shoes to be put on easily due to their shape alone, and a structure that allows the elasticity of the shoe's upper to return to its original shape even if it is crushed due to the material properties. This means that the shoes can be put on easily without using your hands or a shoe horn, and the heel is less likely to be crushed, providing a stable and comfortable fit for walking or running.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] To provide a heel structure for shoes which can be easily put on without a shoehorn, and which is comfortable to wear because the heel is not crushed or left crushed even when put on without using a shoehorn. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, there are many known structures and configurations for easily putting on shoes without using a shoehorn. They can be roughly categorized into "shoehorn type" structures that guide the foot into the shoe without crushing the heel of the upper when inserting the foot, and "recovery type" structures that intentionally crush the heel of the upper when inserting the foot into the shoe, but restore it to its pre-crushing state.

[0003] In short, the above-mentioned "shoehorn type" is characterized by having a shoehorn built into the heel portion, i.e., by the shape of the heel counter made of a molded material such as resin, while the "resilience type" is characterized by having an elastic structure in the heel portion.

[0004] This invention is more of a "shoehorn type" shoe, but in addition to the shape, the "hardness" of the heel is specified in order to improve the recovery when the heel is stepped on and the comfort of the shoe. The following Patent Documents 1 and 2 are related to the structure of the heel that takes hardness into consideration.

[0005] Patent Document 1 (JP Patent Publication No. 2004-321352) discloses a structure in which a small hole is formed in a heel ornament at a position approximately 15 to 50 mm above the top surface of the insole on the rear wall of the heel part, and a vertically long protrusion made of an elastic body having a hardness that causes pain when stepped on continuously is protruded outward from the small hole, the protrusion has a brim with fabric embedded therein, and engages with the back side of the heel ornament and the brim is sewn in place, the shape of the vertically long protrusion with the brim is thin at the tip and spreads out in an eight shape towards the base, is 20 to 30 mm in length, and has a hardness of 75 to 90 (JIS K6253 A type).

[0006] Patent Document 2 (JP 2023-54535 A) has an upper that covers the wearer's foot and a sole, the upper has an outer surface material that forms the outer surface and a lining that forms the inner surface, and an opening is formed through which the wearer's foot passes. In the upper, an ankle fit portion that improves fit to the wearer's ankle is provided around the opening from the front of the part that covers just below the inner malleolus of the wearer to the front of the part that covers just below the outer malleolus of the wearer, sandwiching the part that covers the heel of the wearer. The ankle fit portion has at least the lining, the molded sponge material and the outer surface material, the lining, the molded sponge material and the outer surface material being arranged in this order from the center side of the opening, the lining and the molded sponge material being a one-piece molded product, the one-piece molded product of the lining and the molded sponge material having a first portion and a second portion thicker than the first portion, and further, a structure is disclosed in which the first portion has a harderness than the second portion.

[0007] Patent documents 1 and 2 are related in that both disclose the hardness (strength) of the material that constitutes the heel portion of the upper, but neither has the objective of making it possible to put on shoes easily without the need for a shoehorn.

[0008] That is, the hardness regulation in Patent Document 1 acts to prevent the projections woven into the inside of the shoe from causing discomfort (pain) when the heel is crushed, whereas the hardness regulation in Patent Document 2 acts to prevent the deterioration of the fit to the user's foot over time by increasing the hardness of the first portion between the first portion and the second portion that is thicker than the first portion.

[0009] In other words, in the past, no consideration was given to a configuration that would allow the hardness of the heel area to be adjusted appropriately so that shoes could be easily put on without using a shoehorn or one's hands, and that would improve the recovery and comfort of the shoe when the heel area is stepped on. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0010] [Patent Document 1] JP 2004-321352 A [Patent Document 2] JP 2023-54535 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0011] The problem that this invention aims to solve is that it is not possible to obtain the benefits of both a structure that allows the shoe to be easily put on due to the shape of the heel core alone, and a structure that allows the heel part of the upper to elastically return to its original shape even if it is crushed due to the elasticity of the material properties. [Means for solving the problem]

[0012] In order to solve the above problems, the shoe heel structure of the present invention is composed of wings at the heel of the shoe, which are symmetrical on the inside and outside of the heel, and a shoehorn portion which extends upward from the upper end of the wing portion along the axis of symmetry, and the wing portion is curved in a semicircular arc around the axis of symmetry so that each of the inner and outer tips points toward the toes, and the shoehorn portion extending from the upper end of the wing portion is curved toward the heel, and further has high hardness portions made of a resin with a high hardness around the central periphery in the inward and outward directions and around the central periphery in the up-down direction of the axis of symmetry, and a soft hardness portion made of a resin with a lower hardness than the high hardness portions over the entire area except the wings and the axis of symmetry. Effect of the Invention

[0013] According to the heel structure of the shoe of the present invention, the shape and the soft and hard parts allow the foot to be guided quickly and smoothly into the shoe, and the shape and the hard parts allow the heel to be stably positioned inside the shoe. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0014] [Figure 1] 1 is a perspective view of a heel core shown as one embodiment of a heel structure of a shoe according to the present invention; [Diagram 2]FIG. 1 shows a heel core shown as one embodiment of the heel structure of the shoe of the present invention; (a) is a view from the toe direction, (b) is a view from the heel direction, (c) is a view from the inside or outside direction, (d) is a view from the opening direction, and (e) is a view from the bottom direction. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0015] The present invention combines a structure that allows the shoe to be easily put on due to its shape alone, and a structure that allows the shoe to elastically recover even if the heel portion of the upper is crushed due to the elasticity of the shoe due to the properties of the material. In order to obtain the advantages of both structures, the heel portion of the shoe is composed of wings that are symmetrical on the inside and outside of the heel portion of the foot, and a shoehorn portion that extends upward from the upper end of the wing portion, a portion that forms the axis of symmetry of the wings, the wings curve in a semicircular arc about the axis of symmetry so that the tips of the inside and outside of the wings point toward the toes, and the portion of the shoehorn portion that extends from the upper end of the wing portion curves toward the heel. Furthermore, the shoehorn portion has a high hardness section made of a resin with a high hardness around the central periphery in the inward and outward directions and around the central periphery in the up-down direction of the axis of symmetry, and a soft hardness section made of a resin with a lower hardness than the high hardness section in the entire area except the wings and the high hardness section of the axis of symmetry.

[0016] According to the above, the heel structure of the shoe of the present invention may be adopted in any of the components constituting the shoe, namely the upper, midsole, or outsole, and a shoe having the heel structure of the present invention may be adopted as a heel core that is a separate part from the upper, midsole, and outsole.

[0017] The wing is curved symmetrically on the inside and outside of the heel of the shoe with the tip pointing toward the toes, with the center of the heel branching out to the inside and outside of the foot as the axis of symmetry. This wing has the function of holding the inside and outside of the heel of the foot so that they do not move in the inward and outward directions.

[0018] The shoehorn has an upward extension at the symmetrical axis of the wing at the heel of the shoe, and this extension is curved toward the heel (rearward). As its name suggests, the shoehorn has the function of guiding the foot into the shoe, just like a shoehorn.

[0019] A high-hardness section made of a resin with high hardness is provided in the central periphery in the inward / outward direction and in the vertical direction of the axis of symmetry between the wing section and the shoehorn section. Also, a soft-hardness section made of a resin with a lower hardness than the high-hardness section is provided in the entire area between the wing section and the shoehorn section except for the high-hardness section of the axis of symmetry. In short, the positional relationship between the high-hardness section and the soft-hardness section is such that the soft-hardness section is present in a part of the area where the wing section and the shoehorn section are formed by the high-hardness section.

[0020] For example, the high hardness portion has a Type D durometer of 80-100 according to JIS K 6253-3, and the soft hardness portion has a Type D durometer of 55-75. If the high hardness portion is lower than the above 80, it is too soft and not suitable for fixing the heel, and there is a possibility that the heel of the foot (center of gravity of the foot) will move when walking or running, making walking (running) unstable, whereas if the high hardness portion is higher than the above 100, it is too hard and prevents elastic deformation and recovery in the soft hardness portion.

[0021] On the other hand, if the soft hardness portion is lower than the above 55, it will be too soft, which will hinder the overall shape retention and will not be suitable for fixing the heel part, and the heel of the foot (center of gravity of the foot) may become unstable, resulting in unstable walking (running). On the other hand, if the soft hardness portion is higher than the above 75, it will be too hard and may not be able to elastically deform and recover.

[0022] The heel structure of the shoe is designed so that when the foot is inserted into the shoe (putting on the shoe), the foot is guided by the shoehorn and moves smoothly from the opening of the shoe towards the toes and to the inside of the shoe (inside sole), preventing the heel from being crushed, becoming crushed, or being damaged.

[0023] Furthermore, with the shoe heel structure of the present invention, even if the shoehorn is stepped on, the load of the step is received mainly by the soft and hard sections in the area spanning the shoehorn and wing sections, and the entire structure, including the high hardness sections, elastically deforms (flexes), but when the shoehorn guides the foot into the shoe, the high hardness sections around the axis of symmetry of the wing sections elastically restore, and the heel of the foot is quickly positioned and stabilized appropriately in the heel section inside the shoe, and the soft and hardness sections that were elastically deformed as described above quickly and elastically restore in the same manner as the high hardness sections elastically restore, and the heel returns to its crushed state after being stepped on.

[0024] In addition, the heel structure of the shoe of the present invention may be such that, in the above configuration, the high hardness portion is made of plastic and the low hardness portion is made of TR material (styrene-butadiene thermoplastic elastomer).

[0025] In this way, it becomes possible to process different materials having different hardness, i.e., high hardness and soft hardness, in a single mold (metal die) while maintaining the above-mentioned effect, thereby improving productivity.

[0026] Therefore, the heel structure of the shoe of the present invention quickly and smoothly guides the foot into the shoe due to its shape and the soft and hard parts, and also stably positions the heel of the foot inside the shoe due to its shape and the hard parts. EXAMPLES

[0027] An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to Figures 1 and 2. In this embodiment, a shoe is assumed to be composed of an upper, a midsole, and an outsole (or only the outsole excluding the midsole), and an example will be described in which the structure of the present invention is adopted by a heel core 1 built into the upper.

[0028] In this example, the heel core 1 employing the structure of the present invention is fitted inside the heel portion of the upper material of the shoe with the above-mentioned structure, and this heel core 1 has the following structure. 2 is a wing portion for holding the inside and outside of the foot inside the shoe. This wing portion 2 is made up of an inside wing portion 2A and an outside wing portion 2B on the inside and outside of the foot, respectively, and the inside wing portion 2A and the outside wing portion 2B are symmetrical on the inside and outside with respect to the axis P in the heel portion of the shoe.

[0029] The wings 2 are curved about the axis P so that the tips of the inner wing 2A and the outer wing 2B point toward the toes. Specifically, as shown in Fig. 2, in the case of a dimension L2 described below, the inner wing 2A and the outer wing 2B are curved so that the dimension L1a between the tips of the inner wing 2A and the outer wing 2B, that is, the dimension in the inner-outer direction, is wider (for example, about 1.25 times) than the dimension L1b between the inner wing 2A and the outer wing at the heel.

[0030] Furthermore, the dimension L2 in the heel-to-toe direction from the axis P to the tip of the inner wing 2A and the tip of the outer axis 2B in the wing 2 is about 1 / 3 of the shoe size. Specifically, for example, if the finished shoe size is 25.5 cm, the dimension from the axis P to the inner wing 2A (or outer wing 2B) is about 9 cm.

[0031] If the dimension L is significantly "above" 1 / 3, the dimension will be too long and will hinder the subtle medial-lateral movements of the foot, causing an uncomfortable feeling and making the shoe uncomfortable to wear. If the dimension L is significantly "below" 1 / 3, the dimension will be too short and will be unable to hold the subtle medial-lateral movements of the foot at all, resulting in a lack of stability and uncomfortable wear.

[0032] Reference numeral 3 denotes a shoehorn part formed by extending a portion serving as the (symmetrical) axis P of wing 2 upward from the upper end of said wing 2. This shoehorn part 3 extends upward in the vertical direction (from the opening to the sole) of wing 2, and the extension base of the part is curved so that it slopes downward with the extension tip pointing toward the toes and the extension tip pointing toward the heel.

[0033] Reference numeral 4 denotes a high hardness portion (hatched area in Fig. 1 and Fig. 2 for convenience) made of a resin having high hardness and provided around the center in the inside-outside direction and the center in the up-down direction of the shaft P. In this example, this high hardness portion 4 has a hardness of, for example, 90 in type D durometer according to JIS K 6253-3. In this example, the high hardness portion 4 is made of, for example, a so-called thermoplastic plastic (polyethylene, polypropylene, or polystyrene).

[0034] Reference numeral 5 denotes a soft hardness portion (area not hatched in Figs. 1 and 2 for the sake of convenience) made of a resin having a lower hardness than the high hardness portion, which is provided over the entire area of ​​the wing portion 2 and the shaft P except for the high hardness portion 4. In this example, this soft hardness portion 5 has a hardness of, for example, 65 in type D durometer according to JIS K 6253-3. In this example, the soft hardness portion 5 is made of, for example, a TR material (styrene-butadiene thermoplastic elastomer).

[0035] In short, the heel core 1 is formed entirely (wing section 2 and shoehorn section 3) from the soft hardness section 5, with the hardness section 4 being partially provided. That is, in the shoe heel structure of the present invention, the soft hardness section 5 guides the foot into the shoe to make it easier to insert the foot into the shoe and allows some deformation of the shape during insertion, but the hardness section 4 is provided to allow deformation of the soft hardness section 5 and to firmly hold and stabilize the heel of the foot after guiding the foot into the shoe.

[0036] With this configuration, as described above, the shape of the shoehorn portion 3 makes it easier to guide the foot into the shoe and insert it, and the soft hardness portion 5 elastically deforms and restores, while the high hardness portion 4 does not elastically deform more than the soft hardness portion 5, so that even if the shoehorn portion 3 is crushed, the soft hardness portion 5 quickly restores its shape and is less likely to lose its shape.

[0037] When the foot is quickly inserted into the shoe, the high hardness section 5 holds the heel of the foot stably, and the soft hardness section 4 (wing section 2) elastically deforms appropriately to accommodate and hold the foot in the inward-outward direction toward the toes, making the shoe comfortable to wear.

[0038] The heel structure of the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and can be modified within the scope of the utility model claims. For example, instead of the heel core 1 being built into the upper, the heel structure of the present invention may be integrally formed as a part of the upper. Furthermore, the high hardness portion 4 and the low hardness portion 5 are not limited to the above plastic and TR material, and other materials may be used as long as they meet the conditions. [Explanation of symbols]

[0039] 1 Heel core 2 Wings 2A Inner wing 2B Outer wing 3 Shoehorn Club 4 High hardness part 5 Soft hardness part P (symmetry) axis

Claims

1. A shoe heel structure comprising: wings at the heel of a shoe, which are symmetrical on the inside and outside of the heel, and a shoehorn portion which extends upward from the upper end of the wing portion along the axis of symmetry of the wings, the wings being curved in a semicircular arc about the axis of symmetry so that the inner and outer tips of the wings point towards the toes, and the shoehorn portion which extends from the upper end of the wing portion is curved in the heel direction, and further comprising high hardness portions made of a resin having a high hardness around the central periphery in the inward / outward direction and around the central periphery in the up-down direction of the axis of symmetry, and a soft hardness portion made of a resin having a lower hardness than the high hardness portions over the entire area except for the wings and the high hardness portions along the axis of symmetry.

2. A heel structure for a shoe which is comprised of wings separate from the upper member constituting the shoe, which are symmetrical on the inside and outside of the heel part of the foot, and a shoehorn part which extends upward from the upper end of the wing part along the axis of symmetry of the wings, said wings curve in a semicircular arc around the axis of symmetry so that each of the inner and outer tips points towards the toes, and said shoehorn part extends from the upper end of the wing part and curves in the heel direction, and further comprises a heel core having high hardness parts made of a resin with a high hardness around the central periphery in the inward / outward direction and the central periphery in the up-down direction of the axis of symmetry, and a soft hardness part made of a resin with a lower hardness than the high hardness parts around the entire area except for the wings and the high hardness parts around the axis of symmetry.

3. 3. The shoe heel structure according to claim 1, wherein the high hardness portion is made of plastic and the low hardness portion is made of TR material (styrene-butadiene thermoplastic elastomer).

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